The government has announced plans for a central procurement service that will combine Whitehall buying teams in an attempt to improve efficiency in commercial relationships.

The Crown Commercial Service will be launched this autumn and will bring together the Government Procurement Service and other Cabinet Office purchasing teams with the aim of maximising government buying power. These teams are responsible for a £45bn procurement spend each year.

Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said the new service would give the government a "tighter grip" on all aspects of its commercial performance and save money for the taxpayer.

Its remit will include centrally managing the purchase of common goods and services, strengthening commercial leadership skills and introducing a complex transactions team to reduce the need for external advice on complex procurements. The service will work with Whitehall departments and wider public sector organisations to ensure maximum value is extracted from commercial relationships.

Matthew Fell, director for competitive markets at the Confederation of British Industry, said that "beefing up" commercial skills should be at the top of the Crown Commercial Service's list of priorities. The Cabinet Office has also confirmed that it will seek to recruit a private sector expert to be chair of the service.

Chief procurement officer Bill Crothers said the initiative would ensure that essential items for the whole of government were purchased as efficiently as possible, and that this would allow departments to focus their procurement expertise on "what is unique to them".

This single customer approach will build upon the work of the GPS and aim to fulfil the civil service reform plan's commitment to tranform the way Whitehall operates.

Colin Cram, a contributing editor to the Public Leaders Network, has argued the case for a centralised system that would overcome the "flawed design" of government procurement. Speaking at a public administration select committee hearing in January, he said that an end to working in silos between departments would increase accountability for government purchasing.

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